Dianne Feinstein: “Today's meeting is also important, not just because of what it says about the process and the U.S. role, but also for…”

“Today's meeting is also important, not just because of what it says about the process and the U.S. role, but also for what the prospect is that it can yield an agreement in just a few more days or a few weeks. Far too much time has been lost. Israel and the Palestinians have been stuck for months on how to complete the interim agreements launched by the Oslo process, so that they can move on to the critical final status talks. These interim talks deal with hard and important questions: How much of the West Bank Israel will redeploy from, what steps the Palestinian Authority will take to ensure a sustained crackdown on terrorist groups, how the security services of the two sides will work together to prevent acts of terrorism, and the understanding that both sides must refrain from unilateral actions that undermine the other side's confidence in the peace process. Nothing about these talks is easy, but the time has long since come for both sides to take politically difficult, but fundamentally necessary, decisions that will allow this process to move forward. Israel's security and Palestinian dreams of self-determination can only be realized through a mutually agreed permanent peace agreement. To the extent that today's meeting and the talks set for upcoming days represent a chance to complete the interim agreements and begin final status talks, there is reason for hope.”